Nour
Nov-Dec 2021
Espace M, Rennes, France
When we leave our country forever, the line between the real and the fictional becomes blurred. We no longer have access to the tastes, places, or loved ones that help us remember who we once were. Nour, or “light” in Arabic and Persian, is the first part of a project about the memories of women who have left the Middle East. Using a personal archive of photos, I attempt to reconstruct the past and create a temple for the most distant memories.
Nour consists of a wall of portraits and three pieces, each 250 cm long and 70 cm wide. On each of these pieces are the memories of a woman who left her country, coming from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Each memory is written in its original language on the canvases and illustrated with drawings and archival photos, attempting to reconstruct traces of a distant reality. A lighting system randomly illuminates a photo from each memory.
The exhibition was accompanied by two performances, with a composition by Sepas Sadrenoori sung a cappella by four singers. This composition was inspired by the memories narrated and visualized within the framework of Nour.
Photos: Courtesy of Anaëlle Bouguennec-Pérez and Mathieu L’Heveder